Andy McDonald MP

"This is a brilliant initiative. It has always been ridiculous that 50% of the population were given less credence and paid less attention simply because of their gender.

We've made great strides in redressing such gross injustice and imbalance in recent decades but we still have a long way to go. Ideas like this make a major contribution to correcting perceptions of significant contributions to our shared past and I am 100% supportive.

History is full of "her" stories and we should tell them loud and proud."

Jude Kirton-Darling

The Labour Member of the European Parliament for the North East of England said: “I fully support to this campaign to better recognise our local women's contribution to civic life. As a proud Boro lass, and a Labour woman, I am thrilled that former-Middlesbrough MP Ellen Wilkinson has won the popular vote to be remembered through Middlesbrough’s first female statue.

History is full of women like Red Ellen, who did great work and received little recognition for it, and this is a first step on the path towards a better, truer narrative. It's great that local women (and men!) have come together to right this wrong. Red Ellen's contribution to improving living and working conditions and social justice stretched far beyond Middlesbrough, and can be seen from the Jarrow March in 1936 to drafting the 1945 Labour manifesto which transformed Britain and created our welfare state."

Dave Budd

The Middlesbrough Mayor said: “We have several statues in Middlesbrough in honour of some of the major figures in the town’s history – but it’s currently an all-male club.

“That clearly ignores a number of women whose achievements are every bit the equal of their male counterparts, even though they might not be household names.

“I’m pleased to lend the Council’s backing to this campaign, which will lead to greater understanding of their contribution to the town, and a fitting a tribute to one of their number.”

Woman Up!

“It's fantastic to see local activism at work and it just goes to show that it is possible to make a difference.

At Woman Up we are always keen to celebrate the significant and often overlooked contribution made my women and the campaign for this be realised in a statue of a woman in Middlesbrough is something we wholeheartedly support.”

Caroline Criado-Perez

The writer and campaigner said: "There are so many amazing women from our history who we simply don’t know about, because we don’t remember them and we don’t talk about them.

The failure to represent historical women in statues is only one area out of many where women are woefully underrepresented — but it is a highly visible and therefore important one.

It’s time to redress this historical wrong, and I’m delighted to support this important initiative to erect Middlesbrough’s first female statue."